Cambodian?

Have any Cambodian restaurants opened in the Chicago area? I see mention elsewhere of Nhu Hoa on Argyle, we'll try that soon, but it sounds like it is mostly Vietnamese with some Lao and Cambodian mixed in.

I've heard a rumor of one or two Thai places which were actually owned by Cambodians... ?

We've eaten several times in a wonderful Cambodian restaurant in Oakland, CA; there's one in Boston, but the lines were too long the times we tried to get in.

I'm afraid that Nhu Hoa is closed. I never had the pleasure, but I was looking forward to trying it. I had excellent Burmese food once in New York and have been wanting to get a better experience of the spectrums of same-or-different in the various SE Asian cuisines.

Can you say any more about the places you've enjoyed, in case any of us are travelling to those destinations?

How apropos: Mike Sula just wrote a lengthy blog posting about Burmese in the DC area:

Mike Sula wrote:I got some excellent tips, among them Myanmar, a Falls Church Burmese restaurant that's the object of cultlike affection in those environs, the way, say, Spoon Thai is here. Was it worth the three-and-a-half-hour round-trip crawl through holiday weekend Beltway gridlock? Hell yes, and I'd do it again.

Myanmar Restaurant
7810-C Lee Highway
Falls Church, VA
703-289-0013.

germuska wrote:I'm afraid that [url=http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=109645#109645]I had excellent Burmese food once in New York and have been wanting to get a better experience of the spectrums of same-or-different in the various SE Asian cuisines.

I used to go to a Burmese restaurant at the West end of the strip mall on the North side of Cermak/Chinatown 15 years ago. I don't know if it is still there. Good food, interesting cuisine. There were some similarities to Cambodian, but I found the flavors in the Camodian food more intriquing.

Gargoyle wrote:I used to go to a Burmese restaurant at the West end of the strip mall on the North side of Cermak/Chinatown 15 years ago. I don't know if it is still there.

Long gone, that space is now Lao Sze Chuan. There was a short lived Cambodian restaurant on N Broadway, Teevy, it's been gone a few years.

Enjoy,
Gary

I aslo remember the burmese place that used to exist in chinatown. If I'm not mistaken the closest burmese spot now is in bloomington Indiana.

you could also go for the kang hangleh (burmese style curry) at sticky rice - northern thai

Here's the place where we'd eaten Cambodian food in Oakland, CA.
http://www.themenupage.com/battambang.html

Non-descript little strip mall sort of joint, the food was superb. If you get out there, it's worth a visit.

I couldn't find any leads from searching, so thought I'd de-lurk and ask directly: Are there any Cambodian restaurants in Chicagoland? I recently had (and enjoyed) my first Cambodian food while in the Boston area, and can't seem to track down any (still open) Cambodian spots in Chicagoland?

Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks!

Not in Chicagoland, but I've had
very good Cambodian at Phnom Penh
Restaurant in Cleveland.

SCUBAchef wrote:Not in Chicagoland, but I've had
very good Cambodian at Phnom Penh
Restaurant in Cleveland.

I was going to say, I have to believe that Chicago isn't surrounded by a 300 mile Cambodian-free dead zone, but Phnom Penh is as close as I've found it.

(And a great place to visit, BTW. Seconded.)

Slightly closer is Cambodian Thai
229 S Michigan St in South Bend,
Indiana. Pair it up with a visit to
Fort Wayne for Burmese and burgers:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f= ... 24#p248124
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1840&p=336049&hilit=powers#p336049

At least South Bend is closer than Boston, but still disappointed we don't have anything in Chicago. Thanks for the recs, though.

I have to mention, that I first referenced this site looking for Burmese food in Chicago. I am so disappointed not to be able find some nearby. I first fell in love with the food at a little place in London in 1995. I was there for a six week grad school program and once I found Mandalay, I went to it two or three times a week. The owners are wonderful people (assuming they are the same). We exchanged letters for a year or so and well I love them and their food! Granted it was a short-time thing but hey, still very good memories.

If you are in London, I recommend stopping by:

Mandalay Burmese Restaurant
444 Edgware Road
London W2 1EG
England
http://www.mandalayway.com/restaurant/index.html

Khmai Fine Dining, which appears to be Chicago’s only traditional Cambodian restaurant, opened in late June in a space previously occupied by soul food spot.
Khmai Fine Dining, 2043 W. Howard Street, Open 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
https://chicago.eater.com/2022/6/10/231 ... ummer-2022

Dave148 wrote:Open 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday

To me, those are odd hours - too late for lunch, too early for dinner.

Jasubar wrote:

Dave148 wrote:Open 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday

To me, those are odd hours - too late for lunch, too early for dinner.

Online, Chef Mona Bella is identified as "Chicago's first private chef catering Cambodian food." That might explain the odd hours.

Cynthia wrote:Online, Chef Mona Bella is identified as "Chicago's first private chef catering Cambodian food." That might explain the odd hours.

I'm pretty sure the chef's name is Mona Sang. Mona Bella Catering was her DBA. As I mentioned when this opening was previously discussed (O&C's, I assume), her food is quite good and this is an exciting opening. They were open 1-9p on Thursday per their own social media. Hopefully they can get the staff and resources to expand from the awkward 1-7p status quo.

Sign out front with new hours when I was picking up food on the same block tonight.

Sun-Mon: Closed
Tues-Fri: 3.30p-9p reservation required after 8p
Sat: 12p-6p

I would've gone in to ask for a paper menu (Facebook posts are currently the best clues), but there wasn't a manned hostess stand or reason to think they had them.

Uber eats has a posted menu